PLATONOV, Andrey (Platonovich)

(1896-1951)

   Russian writer best known for his mainstream fiction. One of the most talented figures active in the first decades after the 1917 Revolution, he was regarded with suspicion by "official" literary criticsand much of his work did not appear in RUSSIA until recently, including his two powerful fictional analyses of UTOPIA-building, Tchevengur (1928-29; trans Anthony Olcott 1978 US) and Kotlovan (trans as The PitUS). Lunnaia Bomb ("The Moon Bomb") (1921), Potomki Solntsa ("The Sun Descendants") (1926) and Efirnyi Trakt ("The Ether Road") (written 1928-30; 1967) are good examples of the HARD SF of the period, although they are marked by AP's uniquely sophisticated language and by some unusual anticipations, including future "machineless" technologies with "herds of electrons, bred like domestic animals".

   VG

   See also: RUSSIA.